Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Rocks and Minerals
Transcript
Rocks and minerals - Review A natural, nonliving solid with a definite chemical structure is a mineral Characteristics used to identify minerals are properties. These include: streak, luster, hardness, magnetism, cleavage and fracture. Cleavage pattern refers to how minerals split along flat planes. The Mohs scale uses hardness to classify minerals from softest to hardest. A mineral that contains something that can be useful and sold for a profit is called an ore A mineral that is rare and can be cut and polished, giving it a beautiful appearance is a gem A solid mineral with a repeating pattern of atoms is a crystal A rock is a solid, natural material made up of one or more minerals. Rocks that are produced when melted rock cools and hardens are called Igneous rocks. Igneous rocks are either intrusive or extrusive. Rocks that form when lava cools on Earth’s surface are extrusive. Igneous rocks that form below the surface of Earth are intrusive. This rock formed from magma has large crystals. Sedimentary rock is made from pieces of rocks and minerals and is cemented together by other minerals. It forms in layers, with the oldest rock at the bottom. This rock has many fossils of sea organisms Metamorphic rock forms when heat, pressure, or chemical reactions change one type of rock into another type of rock. A diagram that shows the process of how rocks are changed from one type to another is the rock cycle. In the rock cycle, sedimentary rock is heated and squeezed to form metamorphic rock. The rock cycle is happening all the time New soil begins when exposed rock begins to break down. This process is called weathering. Soil formation occurs at different rates and is based on environmental conditions Soil forms in layers called horizons Organic matter is any substance that is made of living things or the remains of living things. The dark colored, organic matter formed from decayed plant and animal remains is called humus. Worms help soil formation by mixing the soil and breaking down organic matter.
